Media Storm

1.10 Ableism enabled: The loopholes in Equality Law - with Jumoke Abdullahi and Ellen Jones

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Episode notes

Warning: Some swearing

Disabled workers are over twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled workers — even not counting those who are ‘economically inactive’ due to health or other reasons. Countless testimonies point to ableism at every stage of the employment game, from applying to jobs to being made redundant. And yet legally-speaking, there is almost no trace of disability discrimination in UK workplaces, with only 72 disability employment tribunals happening in the latest published annual period (2019-20).

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia), with Helena Da Silva Merron and Maria Kalinowska as researchers.

Guests (in order of appearance)

Keryn Seal @KerynSeal4 (TW)
Izzy Jani-Friend @isabellejanifriend (IG)
Emma Vogelmann @emma.vogelmann @disabilitylawservice @scopecharity (IG) @emma_vogelmann @DSL_Law @scope (TW)
Roxanne Steel @roxannesteelofficial (IG)
Maria Kalinowska @m.a.kamera (IG)
Jumoke Abdullahi @jayonlife (IG) @herroyalj (TW) @triplecripples
Ellen Jones @ellen__jones

Sources

Disabled and non-disabled employment rates, UK (calculated from the most recent quarterly data, for October-December 2021): https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08
Disability Employment Tribunals - number and amounts awarded: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2020 - these give annual figures only for the year 2019-2020; we were unable to access more recent figures due to the handling of that data being moved to new case managements systems within the government, and therefore being delayed in publication (as detailed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2021/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2021#special-educational-needs-and-disability-send)
Reasonable adjustments explained: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/138118/Equality_Act_2010_-_Duty_on_employers_to_make_reasonable_adjustments_for....pdf
Access to Work provisions: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2021/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2021
Disabled people in employment in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-employment-of-disabled-people-2021/the-employment-of-disabled-people-2021
PIP cuts: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-tories-break-manifesto-70million-25603434
‘Economically inactive’ populations, UK (calculated from the most recent quarterly data, for October-December 2021): https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08)
Disability representation in UK TV industry: https://creativediversitynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TheFifthCut-Diamond-at-5.pdf

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Music by Samfire @soundofsamfire. Artwork by Simba Baylon @simbalenciaga.

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